Of Science and Magic
by SuzanOfSouthern
Summary: Join the Chancellor, Aryn, and Kaal as they collide with the wizarding world. What will they find? Who do they meet? What dastardly plan do they uncover? (Sequel to "Many Time Ladies Over", slightly AU Hogwarts)
1. To a World Unknown

**A/N: Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and keeping up with my story "Many Time Ladies Over". That is the story that precedes this one. I decided to do this because this story will be crossing over with some other fandoms as well. Where this story goes, I'm not quite sure, but it will sure be one heckuva ride. For those who are just joining us, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for everything, and as always, allonsy!  
**

* * *

I had thrown my pack into a room further down the hallway, which funnily enough was the wardrobe room. I had more clothes than I thought. Well, it would help all of us out whenever and wherever we landed. I had set about working out the controls a little more, getting more familiar with my TARDIS and its operation. Having two hands would definitely help me out with landing and whatnot. I was actually surprised my TARDIS didn't shatter during my regeneration. Of course, it was a pretty sturdy one; I had made sure of that. The Doctor's was significantly older than mine. His chameleon circuit had burst; what it had ended up as, I hadn't a clue. No bother. I wasn't likely to see him anyways.

Aryn bounded in from the door. "Heya, Chancellor. Where are we headed to?"

I flashed a smile. "To see if a planet still exists; I have to make sure my people didn't destroy it." My smile faltered for a second in remembering my people. I shook my head clear. "There're rooms further down the hallway; find one and pick one, then come back. We're going to be leaving as soon as Kaal is here." She headed to the hallway and marched down to find her room. I didn't expect Kaal was going to be here soon, so it would give me and Aryn teaching time for the console. I needed her to know how to work it, at least partially. Consumed with details, I didn't notice Kaal was inside until he spooked me.

"So how does this work?" I nearly punched him in the face.

"Kaal, don't do that!" I yelled, forcibly clenching my fists to their sides. I relaxed and turned back to the console. "Go find yourself a room in the back, and then we'll all go over the basics, okay?" He left to find his room. I closed my eyes. This was going to become very interesting.

* * *

"So here's where we input all the data needed to start a trip; keyboard's here, screen's to the right." I adjusted the screen slightly so it was easier to see. "Now then, this lever gets the time rotor pumping, and this one here—well, I'm not sure what that one does. But," I said, quickly pressing a few buttons on the console, "these prime the engine so that it can be ready to leave, and not make such harsh grinding noises during take-off. The brakes are here, used gently during landing, and this is the engine lever. Got it?" They both nodded, Kaal inspecting the console further. "I'm not sure what some of this does, so we'll have to work on it together to figure it out."

Kaal looked at me and nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard; so where are we headed?"

"The Milky Way galaxy, third planet from the star Sol, year 2013. We need to see if it still exists." I pulled the rotor lever, the time rotor warming itself up. Engines were primed, the rotor was going; time to start the engine. I pulled on the lever and off we were.

* * *

I pressed the brakes slowly, the TARDIS groaning as it shook to a stop. I would have to practice a bit more to be smoother with them. Or I needed them to be greased; whatever. Now was not the time to be worried about the brakes. Once it gave a small shudder and stopped, I knew we had landed. Aryn and Kaal looked at me; once I gave them a smile, Aryn bolted for the door, Kaal not far behind.

She opened the door and Kaal slammed it shut. She yelped. "Kaal! I want to see where we landed!"

"And you can't just run out there not knowing what to expect," he said loudly. Aryn calmed down some, but was still slightly agitated.

"Well, you can't force me to stay in here," she huffed, her arms crossed.

"Actually, I can," I stated, holding up my TARDIS key. "You want to take a few more moments to think about what Kaal said?" Aryn seemed to be weighing her options. "We can do this the hard way, or you can listen to me and Kaal, and enjoy where we are, at least for a moment. Do we have a deal?"

She walked over to me and stuck out her hand. "Deal. Now can we please go and see where we landed?"

"Well, Aryn, we need to see if we've dressed appropriately. I'm not sure if a leather jacket, or both of your uniforms, will exactly help us blend in." I looked at the screen, noting that we were in the right year, and for location, I was at a loss. I really should have paid more attention when doing my studies. What in all of Gallifrey was "Hogwarts"?

* * *

After we had determined some pants and a shirt would do, we all cautiously stepped out to find ourselves in a forest. I did a quick check; sonic was in my jacket pocket, psychic paper in my back pocket, and I was good to go. Kaal had left his blaster in the TARDIS; we didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea, and were hoping we wouldn't need it. My sonic should cover most situations. I had locked the door and activated the chameleon circuit. Soon, it looked like a broken tree trunk. Suitable cover.

We started towards the sight and smell of smoke, the three of us looking more like a band of teens than a cadre of adventurers. Hopefully, that would work to our advantage. As the smell grew stronger, a small hut came into view. I glanced at Aryn and Kaal, who looked at me for direction. Well, it couldn't hurt to see who lived there and ask about what "Hogwarts" was. I strode towards the front door, intending to brazen myself up a bit before knocking. The door swung open before we got there, and a huge man stepped through. My mouth dropped; the man looked like a giant! I immediately closed my mouth and quietly chided Aryn and Kaal for having the same expression. The man blinked a few times, not quite sure if he saw us or not. I swallowed a lump down, taking a few more steps forward.

"Hello," I started, holding my hand out. The man narrowed his beady eyes at me, sizing me up. "My name is the—I mean, my name is Chancy. My friends and I, we were just taking a stroll—"

"Tha's a lie, if I e'er 'eard one," the man spoke, his deep voice rumbling. He took my hand tentatively, not sure if he should trust us or not. "No one e'er 'takes a stroll' in these 'ere woods. They're full o' dark magic, they are."

"Yes, well, you've caught us. We are actually a bit lost; could you tell us where we are, by chance?"

"What're ye doin' out 'ere then? Are ye some spies, come te find out 'ogwarts secrets?" the man growled, his hand slipping from mine and grabbing his umbrella. The man looked ready to spear us with his umbrella, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be scared at that prospect. He grabbed me with his other arm, my jacket choking me yet again. What is the deal with people choking me? I gasped and gurgled, trying to speak. Aryn piped up instead.

"Good sir, we are telling the truth. We are lost, and don't know at all what you're talking about. We can barely understand what you're saying." I nodded furiously, hoping he would set me down. He dropped me and pointed his umbrella at me. I grabbed my sonic and wielded it, warily keeping an eye on the man's umbrella. What did he hope to do with the thing? A burst of light shot out, and I barely dodged it. What in Rassilon's name was that?

I rubbed my throat. "Sir, please put down the umbrella; we wish only to talk." The man snarled at us.

"I think yer liars, all of ye!" he spat, his large frame looking rather intimidating. I wanted so badly to just run away, but I knew I had to take some sort of stand.

"I am one of the last of the Time Lords, and my friends aren't from around here either, sir. Why don't you take a proper look at us before claiming we're spies?" The man kept an arm up, ready to swing if he needed to. He then looked at each of us in turn, finally settling on Kaal and his face markings. His eyes flitted with unease. He wasn't sure what to think. "Sir, I'm sure if you help us find out what in all of Gallifrey is going on, we'll be on our way in a matter of days. Please help us," I said, holding a hand out to him. He glared at me.

"I'm not goin' te say if I believe ye or not, but we'll let the 'eadmistress decide. Foll'er me," he replied, starting up a path through his pumpkin patch. The man was easily 8 feet tall with a huge, bushy beard and long, tangled hair. I'd never seen anything quite as big as this man, but Aryn and Kaal had gotten over their shock. "Reminds me of a wampa," Kaal murmured, Aryn trying not to snigger. I shot them a disdainful look, then focused on following the man. We'd never gotten his name, I realized.

"Sir, if it's all right, could we get your name? I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. I'm Chancy, and my friends are Aryn and Kaal." He kept walking, and for a while I thought he hadn't heard me. As we reached what looked like heavy wooden doors to a huge castle overlooking a lake and rolling hills, he finally spoke.

"Me name's Rubeus Hagrid; that's all ye need te know." He easily opened the door and we were ushered inside. "Now, te take ye te 'eadmistresss McGonagall's office." He was silent the rest of the way to the office. "The quick brown fox jumped o'er the lazy dog," he said to thin air after a sudden stop. We heard grinding noises, and a stone staircase revealed itself carved into the wall.

"What in Rassilon's—?" I stuttered before quickly following Rubeus. Aryn and Kaal were on my heels, not wanting to miss a moment. He was taking the steps two at a time while I struggled behind him. After a short climb, we found ourselves in front of a door. I could hear yelling coming from the office. I strained to hear what was being said. It sounded like a woman yelling at one of the students.

"James Sirius Potter, you have a lot of nerve pulling what you did today!" a woman's voice shouted. "What in Godric's name were you thinking, trying to sneak out of the castle? You know what happened to your father, and his father, whenever they tried. Why, child? The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason!" she yelled, her voice carrying a note of concern. I couldn't hear the reply, but I could tell the woman was answering him quietly as well, the shouting part now done. I heard some more words exchanged (I couldn't tell what was being said), and then scuffling as they made their way to the door. The headmistress pulled the door open to allow James Potter out of the office.

I looked at the boy; he couldn't have been more than 11 years old. He had dark wild hair and brown eyes. He was wearing what looked like robes with a crest emblazoned on the right side. A lion, a symbol of pride and honor. I smiled at him. The boy looked at us strangely, and left without a word. I watched him as he descended the stairs, a book swinging from his arm. I then caught the end of Rubeus' sentence. "—unauthorized on th' grounds, 'eadmistress."

"Thank you, Hagrid; I shall take them into the office." She watched him leave as we filed into her office. She turned around and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing as she took us and our appearance in. "Well, ladies, gentleman, why don't we discuss this over at my desk?" she said in an even tone, which I assumed meant she would be talking and we would be listening. She guided us to the seats in front of her desk, and we all sat, uneasiness settling around us. She cleared her throat. "Let me be perfectly clear, you three, that what you have done is considered espionage, and can be punished by imprisonment. Being caught on the grounds of this school without the proper authority or documentation is a terrible offense, and needs to be brought to the attention of the Ministry. I regret to do this, especially to children as young as you, but the law is the law, I'm afraid." She turned to one of the paintings on the wall.

"But we do have documentation," I decreed, fishing out my psychic paper. I flipped it open, and she glanced at it. Her mouth opened in surprise.

"You're from the Ministry? Well, why didn't you say so?"

"Well, we were trying to see how the defenses were, and it was supposed to be a surprise inspection. You don't mind if we have a look around the castle, do you?"

The headmistress tried to speak, but she was at a loss for words momentarily. "Well, of course you may look around the castle; the students are not to be questioned." She paused, gathering her composure. She leaned in close. "You're here for the education inspections, aren't you?"

I didn't let the words phase me. I hadn't a clue what she was talking about. I gave her a grin. "Yes, yes, of course, Headmistress. McGonagall. So, are we free to go about the castle? It's an impressive castle, to be sure."

She looked at us a bit strangely. "Yes, but please remember not to question the students unless absolutely necessary. And all of you look rather young to be in such a high position."

"Oh yes, well, we graduated top of our classes, we did. Didn't we?" I asked the other two. They nodded meekly. They weren't sure what was going on. I wasn't either, but this was a way for us to prevent any other bad things from happening. "They're just a bit shy. It's their first time in a new country."

"Ah, Beauxbatons and Lamprad?"

"Yes, Headmistress. They're still a bit tired from the trip." Aryn attempted to yawn, to emphasize my point.

"Well, once you've concluded the inspections, please stop by my office and let me know how my staff is performing."

I smiled at the woman. "Not a problem, Headmistress. Thank you." With that, all three of us left the office, ready to explore this strange new world.


	2. The Inspectors Three

**A/N: So, this chapter might be a bit boring, but I thought it would be fun if they could explore the Hogwarts world for at least some of the time. Man, I'm tired all of a sudden. Anyways, the HP universe is changed slightly; I'm obviously keeping Harry's son in this, but I'm changing- well, you'll see. And you may not agree or like it, but I figured why not? For those who don't know, I don't own HP, SW, or DW. That's just how it is, unfortunately. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

"Chancellor, what exactly are we supposed to be doing again?" Aryn asked long after we'd left the Headmistress' office.

"Apparently, she was waiting for some education inspectors, and we got here before they did. So let's make sure we've got the right planet and time, and we can leave and find a different planet or galaxy to explore. Until then, it's our job to inspect the staff and how they're doing as far as performance. This will be interesting. What do they even do here?"

Kaal offered his insight. "It seems as though they have some sort of—Jedi-like powers. At least, that's what it looked like when that giant pointed his cane at you. We'll have to sit in on a class before we know for sure." I nodded, accepting his assessment. It was more than either I or Aryn had guessed. And I was definitely curious.

We walked around the castle a little, commenting and pointing out certain things of interest. We must have gotten back to the entrance because it was then I saw a huge coat of arms hanging on the wall to greet all those who came to the school. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," I stated, looking at the tapestry that hung in the front hall. "Well, that explains a lot; so, witches and wizards, that's what we're dealing with!" I replied, rubbing my hands together. I grinned. I didn't know much, but doing these inspections would be rather good fun. And intriguing, considering the only exposure I've had to witches or wizards was our Council seer. "C'mon, let's see what classes they have outside."

Aryn and Kaal followed me, also a little excited at what we were about to witness. It was more than I bargained for, that's for sure.

* * *

As we made our way back towards the forest, I could see a group of students huddled over near Rubeus' house. We looked at each other before all of us headed over to watch the instructor as he or she taught their class. We were fakes, but we would at least make a good go of pretending to be the educational inspectors. As we got closer, I could make out a woman leading the class. They had just grabbed some fresh meat, and were getting ready to head into the woods.

"Hello!" I greeted cheerily, waving at the students and the professor. She looked quite young to be a professor, but nonetheless, she stopped as did the rest of the class. "Would you mind if we joined you?"

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice rather airy and lilting. Her light blue eyes matched her pale skin and almost white blond hair. I blinked. She almost looked like an albino, but with normal eyes. It was a bit disconcerting.

"Education Inspectors; all three of us. Would you mind if we joined you? It's a surprise inspection."

She gave a small smile. "Grab some of the meat over there, and follow us," she said in her light voice. It sounded more like a sigh than the voice of a professor. She stepped lightly into the woods and the class followed her quietly. I grabbed a piece of raw meat and started after them, as did Kaal. Aryn didn't want to pick up raw meat.

"It'll stain my clothes," she said when I asked why she didn't do like we were.

"No surprise there," I mumbled, turning back to the class. Only 50 meters in, she had stopped and the class formed a half-circle around her. She certainly commanded attention, even for a young professor, and the class was waiting for instructions. I made a mental note about that.

"Okay, class, I want you to form three piles in this clearing; it will probably be a few minutes before the creatures we're studying will be here to eat." She motioned for a third of them to start at the end of the clearing, another third to go to the middle, and the last third to dump their meat near her. The class all stepped back once the meat was in a pile. I gave Aryn and Kaal a confused look as I didn't know what was going to be happening. I decided to ask the professor off to the side, but before I could, she spoke up, her fair voice reaching all of them, surprisingly.

"Now, class, I will start talking with you about the thestrals, the creature we've been studying since the beginning of the week. Thestrals can only be seen by those who've seen someone die." I could see movement in the trees. My hearts started to pound. This was going to be interesting indeed. I kept my ears focused on her lesson as I tried to see what these creatures were. "They have been a part of Hogwarts history for several hundred years, and just recently had several more added due to the influx of students and births. They have often been considered a bad omen, but that's just hearsay. They're really quite nice once you get to know them."

A few had already come through the thickets and started gorging themselves on the piles that were in front of the students. Some of them didn't know what was going on; they couldn't see them because they hadn't seen death. But I had. I saw them very clearly. Excruciatingly so. The creatures were all black with leathery wings that spanned three men. They were big, probably close to 9 feet in height for the larger ones. I saw a few younger thestrals ripping off small chunks and gulping them down. Their white eyes and gaunt appearance would certainly make people scared. They looked like the stuff of nightmares.I glanced at Aryn and Kaal. Both were looking at the beings in front of them with inexpressible faces. They could see them. I figured Kaal would be able to, but I hadn't thought Aryn would have seen death.

"Is it all right to go up to them?" I asked the professor. I hadn't even gotten her name.

"Yes, Inspector; it's all right. Just don't approach too quickly." I nodded, slowly approaching the thestrals closest to me. They saw me, then went back to their meal. I picked up my pace, and they didn't bother acknowledging me. I stood in front of a smaller thestral, this one only about six feet in height. I held my hand out and slowly let it fall on the thestral's shoulder. It jerked its head up, and I held my breath. If it went wild, the outcome would not be pretty. As it was, it huffed and blew its breath in my face, and went back to eating. The smell was disgusting, but I was actually touching the beast. I gave a half-smile and stroked its neck. The beast moved closer at the touch, almost as if it wanted me to continue. I laughed a little.

"Gaier seems to like you," the professor stated, looking at us. She quirked her head. "You look barely old enough to have graduated, and I don't remember you in any of my classes when I went here."

"Beauxbatons and Lamprad," I replied, glad I remembered our cover. I continued to stroke the thestral's head. It seemed to enjoy it enough to stop eating and start nudging me. "We've never been here before, but the Ministry sent us to do an examination of the professors, so naturally, we have to do our job." I had stopped at this point, turning to look at the professor, who didn't look very old herself. The beast pushed me from behind, almost tipping me over. The class giggled. The professor looked on, mildly amused herself.

"I see; I suppose that's why you've never seen a thestral before?"

"Exactly," I said, agreeing with her.

"Professor Scarmander, can we go up and pet them too?" one of the students asked, feeling bolder now that he saw I wasn't being harmed by it.

"Before I start letting any of you go up to them, I want to know how many of you can see the thestrals." Only about a third of the class could see them, while the other two thirds were rooted in their place, watching the meat from the piles being gobbled by unseen creatures. The one who was eager to pet it raised his hand higher than the others. Now that I knew her name, I felt a little more comfortable. "All right, for those who can see the thestrals, you may approach them if you like, but be very careful. They don't like it when you approach too quickly." The eager one exercised a little caution, and remained relatively normal as he made his way up to a thestral in the middle group. He looked very familiar, but I couldn't place him. Messy black hair with brown eyes, relatively fearless—it was the boy who'd been in the Headmistress's office prior to us.

He was the first and only person in the class to go up and touch the thestral. He urged one of his friends to join him. "C'mon, Ted; it's not gonna bite you. They seem really tame. And their skin is weird; it's a totally strange feeling." But the boy he had been talking to shook his head. "Anyone else? Really?" he said, challenging the others. No one wanted to take him up on the offer. He shook his head.

"All right, James, Inspector; it's time for us to leave. Class will be done soon, and we need to get back to the castle," Professor Scarmander said, gesturing for us to leave. I felt a little sad; this beast was starting to grow on me. It wasn't such a bad thing after all. Just looked scary. I gave it a final pat before I joined the rest of the group that was heading back to the castle. James, the boy who'd also been with the thestrals, came up behind me. I gestured for him to get in front of me so I could keep an eye out if anything approached from the back.

"Inspector, that's unnecessary; I've had more than my fair share of adventures already. Nothing in this forest can surprise me."

"How about we walk side by side, then?" I asked, indicating a spot next to me.

"All right." He stomped over and we began walking behind the rest of the group.

"So you're a wizard, huh?" I asked, stealing a glance at the boy. He seemed so young to be so fearless.

"Yeah; my parents went with me to get all my supplies for my first year." His black robe swished about him as he walked, almost causing him to stumble. "I hate these things!" he muttered, yanking them up and continuing to walk.

"So this is your first year? How old are you?"

"I'm eleven; that's when we all start our schooling. I've never met anyone from overseas before. What's America like?" I didn't know how to answer him. What was America? It was probably best to simply be quiet. He took the silence as a sign I wasn't in the mood for talking. "Sorry for asking; I know the president and the economy are a sore subject for you lot." We continued, catching up to the group in minutes. As we were leaving the woods, Rubeus caught sight of the group. When he saw us, he growled. Professor Scarmander sorted him out. "Relax, Hagrid; they're simply educational inspectors. There's no need to worry." The giant still kept an eye on us until we entered the castle.

I was immensely glad to get rid of his death glare. We shuffled into the classroom and the professor finished her lesson on thestrals. Despite the fact that sometimes we weren't sure if she was all there, her instruction was rather informative and well-presented. I would have to tell the Headmistress. A strange sound rang throughout the room, effectively causing the multitude of children to pick up their books and head out. That James—I wondered where they were going. "C'mon," I urged Aryn and Kaal. "We're going to follow this class around as we do our inspections. They're here and in their first year; this would probably be a good way to learn the basics," I said quietly, low enough that only they could hear me. They nodded. We made small talk as we grouped together as if in a conference. I didn't want to appear too obvious as to what we were doing, or that we really didn't know what was going on.

When I saw James head outside for his next class, I waited for a little bit until I felt it was appropriate to follow. "So how does this magic thing work? We haven't seen anyone doing anything remotely magical," Aryn muttered as she followed me.

"Maybe there's other ways to do magic," Kaal suggested. Y'know, I'm surprised no one's asked Kaal about his horns or appearance yet. Perhaps he wasn't so strange in this world. I smiled at the both of them.

"Well, hopefully we'll find out. I wonder what class we're going to next?"

* * *

"Hello, class! Today, I asked you all to be down here for a very special reason." The instructor, a rather good-looking fellow with sparkling eyes, was exceedingly confident and enthused about his subject. I hadn't caught the name as we had slipped in after he'd gotten the class into the greenhouse. James was whispering to his friend, and he caught sight of us again. I gave him a small nod, then continued to listen to the professor. The professor had other plans. He'd seen James whispering in the back with his friend, and noticed that we were not students.

"James Potter, how about you turn your attention up here so you and Mr. Ted Lupin don't get in trouble?" James turned around and huffed as he listened to the professor. The man looked at the three of us. "And who would you three be?"

"Educational Inspectors," Aryn said, her posture almost perfect. So she had noticed him too. "We're here to see how the class runs, and whether the teaching is up to par with current standards. You can continue." I tried not to snigger at her formalness. I wasn't used to it, so it was funny to hear her when she was actually being proper. I didn't hide it well enough.

"You have something else to add, Inspector—?"

"Smith, and no, I don't."

"Is what she said funny to you, Inspector Smith?"

I swallowed my laughter. We were treading dangerously with this man. We couldn't afford to lose our cover. "Not at all, Professor. Can I get your name in case we need to report someone becoming hostile during our inspection?"

The man thought for a minute. I could see that he wanted to continue questioning us, but wasn't sure if my veiled threat would work. "It's Professor Longbottom, and this is Herbology for the first years," he replied at last. The students had been watching us face off, and looked more interested in our stare-off than the lesson he was supposed to be teaching them. He stared at us three for a moment more before continuing his original speech. "What plant have we been going over for the past two days?" he asked the class as he paced up front. "James? You looked willing to talk a minute ago; why don't you tell us what it is we went over?"

He was quite observant, that's for sure. James answered with "Devil's snare". What the hell was that? The man nodded and gave a grin; it was hard not to stare. He reminded me of Gallifrey, of my husband who had died in the—No, I couldn't think about that. I had to stop whatever was happening. I shook my head slightly as the professor went on to explain what Devil's snare was and how they could escape from it. "Remember, when you use the _incendio_ spell, you should really concentrate on the tendrils, as those are the most likely for you to be caught in. Relaxing helps as well, but most people tend to struggle and resist, making the plant grab you tighter. A perfect example would be when it was used to guard the Philosopher's Stone when it was hidden here at Hogwarts." James' hand shot up. "Yes, James?"

"Is it one of the obstacles my dad had to go through?"

The professor nodded. "It is, actually. Thanks to the quick thinking of himself and the Auror Hermione Weasley, they managed to make their way past the plant."

Another student shot their hand up. "What other obstacles did they have to get through in order to get the stone?"

"Well, after the three-headed dog—"

"James, now is not the time for story-telling; I'm sorry, Brendon, but that is not in our lesson for today. However, I do want you to know how to use the spell, so I have gotten a single plant so you can all practice in casting the spell on a real Devil's Snare. I will be here monitoring you; you are safe with the four of us here." Then I realized he had included us in that number. And we really weren't witches and wizards. This could go badly.


	3. Help or Hindrance?

**A/N: So... I'm starting to get more into the HP world in this chapter. Some interesting stuff takes place. Also, I do not own Doctor Who, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. I enjoy suggestions, or criticism, or anything, really. I guess I'm just kinda doing my own thing regardless of who reads. Anyways, hope this whets your appetite! ****  
**

* * *

We were standing in front of the plant, the first years all lined up to take their turn. Professor Longbottom was at the front, explaining where to aim and gesturing to the general area he wanted them to shoot the spell at. "It takes some practice, so if you want more than one shot at it, go back to the end of the line for another chance." The students nodded, the first one being a rather short girl with strawberry blond hair. She looked nervous. "Kara, it's all right," the professor said, kneeling down to talk with her. He looked into her eyes. "You can do this; you have more power than you know, and I am confident that you can wield this spell." The girl nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. The plant slithered and snaked its way towards the ceiling and towards her. I was tempted to jump in front of her to save her from the plant, but I knew it would blow our cover, so I stood where I was.

She held her wand with a small bit of confidence. With a feeble shout of "Incendio!", she struck one of the tendrils that had been coming for her. I gave a small sigh of relief as the plant recoiled from the effect. I heard Kaal and Aryn's held breaths as well. At least I knew I wasn't the only one.

"You know, we don't have any wands, or any magic at all whatsoever," Aryn muttered to me.

"I know that, Aryn; I'm trying not to let this guy figure it out," I whispered back. My eyes never left the professor. I needed to make sure he was distracted when we spoke to each other.

"Are you attracted to him?" Kaal asked quietly, disrupting my focus. I blinked.

"What?" I said aloud, looking at him. He shrank back, sheepish. The professor's head snapped towards us. He had just let the fourth student ahead to try the spell on the Devil's snare. "No, I most certainly am not," I told Kaal. The professor gave us a questioning look.

"Are you three sure you're all right?" Before any of us could answer, I heard a muffled voice. The student! The professor saw my face and whipped around, being much closer than we were to the plant. "Incendio!" he cried, his wand bursting with fire and engulfing the roots of the tendrils that had the student in its grasp. The plant quickly dropped him, and there was a crack. Not loud, but certainly noticeable.

I winced; that did not sound good. Not at all. Professor Longbottom helped the boy up, the student's left wrist hanging at an odd angle. "I need to get him to the Infirmary."

Aryn quickly jumped in. "I'll take him, if he can lead me there. We haven't become acquainted with the castle quite yet. Kaal can come with me." The professor looked at the two, finally realizing that Kaal wasn't a normal human. His eyes flitted with unease.

"You're sure that you three are Educational Inspectors? I'm probably older than all three of you. And what are you supposed to be, anyways?" he directed the question to Kaal. His curious eyes met the Zabrak's. Kaal swallowed. I gave a short nod to let him know it was okay to tell him.

"I'm a Zabrak."

"A Zabrak? Never heard of it. Are you a human mix?"

"Yes."

"And you've trained as a wizard?"

Kaal was getting nervous at all the questions. "Y-yes."

I had to jump in. "Professor, they are more than capable of helping the boy to the Infirmary. Now why don't you let them go so he can get fixed and the rest of the class can continue the lesson?" My eyes bore into his icy ones, a cold look to them. He spoke to the child.

"Kenny, the inspectors will be taking you to the Infirmary. You know where that is. Let Madame Pomfrey know what happened, and please try not to continue breaking bones. This is Herbology, not Quidditch."

The boy nodded, and Aryn and Kaal gave me tight-lipped nods as they followed the boy. Apparently, this wasn't the boy's first time breaking something. I smiled myself, then turned to watch as another student stepped up to give himself a chance at practicing the spell. The rest of the class went quite uneventfully, Kenny, Aryn and Kaal coming back nearly when it was over.

"Do you want to try again, Kenny?" The boy shook his head. "Are you sure? I want you to be prepared, in case you need to make your way through an obstacle like this." The boy shifted on his feet. His wrist was completely healed. Strange; I'd have to ask Aryn and Kaal about that. He gave a small nod, and the professor allowed him to go ahead of the last two. The boy stood up straight and faced the plant. It slunk and slid around, the tendrils looking like little whips ready to crack.

"Incendio!" he cried, his wand and arm extended. A bright light erupted from the end of his wand and hit the plant's closest few tendrils, causing it to recoil.

"Good job!" the professor said, beaming at the boy. "I knew you could do it; now go on, get over there with the rest of the group." He looked at the last two boys left. James and Ted. "You two; always wanting to practice more." He shook his head, a smile catching his face. "Well, go on, James. Make your parents proud." The boy grinned mischievously and stepped forward. With a more than theatrical wave, the boy shouted "Incendio!" and blasted the plant almost out of the pot it was in. That was much more forceful than the first time he'd tried it. "Was that really necessary?" Professor Longbottom asked. James only shrugged and went over by the rest of the class. Ted's last turn.

The boy walked up to the plant, looking mildly curious. A quick swish and flick, and the plant was again reeling from the "incendio" spell. That was everyone then. The three of us started to walk over to the group; unfortunately, the professor had other ideas.

"Inspector Smith," he called, causing me to turn around. I was lucky I remembered that was the name I gave. "Would you care to try your hand at subduing the plant?"

I coughed. "There's no need; this is for first year students, is it not?"

"It is, but I figured they should see what their educational inspectors are capable of, shouldn't they? I mean, after all, they will someday replace you, right?" I narrowed my eyes. He was challenging me—us. Calling us out, daring us to prove who we were. Smart man; that look—that look just got to me, reminded me so much of—

I shook my head. "I don't have a normal wand."

He looked confused. "What do you mean you don't have a normal wand? What do you have?" I pulled out my sonic and held it up for him to see. "What is that?"

"It's my wand—kind of." Aryn and Kaal exchanged looks behind me.

"What about their wands?" he asked, pointing to my companions.

"They don't have their wands on them."

"Why not? Every witch and wizard is supposed to carry their wands on them at all times."

"Are you afraid we're going to be attacked, Professor? Is there a war going on? We're inspectors, not warriors."

He couldn't stop staring at me; it was making me uncomfortable. "You three are a strange lot, that's for sure. All right then, can you use that thing on the plant?"

"I should be able to." I took a deep breath and planted myself in front of the slippery, somewhat slimey plant. I wordlessly set the wand to a spark setting, which thankfully reached the plant and zapped it hard enough to retreat its clutches. "Happy?" I said, turning from the plant and pocketing my sonic.

The professor nodded. "It's enough for me, though you need to explain why your wand is metal and not wood. I've never seen one like that before." He looked at the three of us one last time before ushering the class out of the greenhouse and back to the classroom. The three of us hung back so we could figure out where to go from here.

Aryn was the first to say something. "That man damn near got us, Chancellor! What were you thinking, having us be 'inspectors'?"

"You weren't exactly brimming with ideas, Aryn!" I shot back. "It was the only thing I had to bargain with. Besides, the psychic paper showed her what she wanted to see. You sometimes got to go with what you're dealt."

"Ladies, can we not do this here? I'm sure more professors and students are going to be around; we might not want everyone to hear our conversation," Kaal warned, his dark eyes flashing with worry. "And I don't think our cover is going to last much longer with that professor asking so many damn questions!"

"Well, Kaal, if you hadn't started second-guessing yourself, he would probably have left us alone."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" he said, getting angry with me.

"I didn't ask you to come with me!"

"So now it's my fault?" Aryn said, her hands on her hips. She looked ready to throw a few punches in my direction. I gave up. I didn't know what to do anymore.

"All right; we're done here then. We'll go to the professor, ask him what year and planet this is, and be gone, okay? That was the original plan, wasn't it?"

"Yes," they replied curtly.

"Fine." I turned towards the exit and froze. The man, that professor—he was blocking the way and had heard everything. His wand was up and pointed at me.

"You better stop where you are."

* * *

I swallowed a big lump in my throat and put my hands up. This was bad, very bad. "Look, we can explain what's going on; it's really kind of funny, actually—"

"Don't move," the man said through clenched teeth. "I don't want to hear your excuses for why you're impersonating Ministry officials; that sort of thing can get you locked up in Azkaban. Considering your current position, that might be a relief after I'm done with you." The man's eyes were hardened like icicles. I felt around and managed to grab my sonic. I held it up, hoping against all hope that they had fixed the damn wood setting. The man held his wand at the ready. "You really want to duel with me? I can guarantee that you will lose." With that, he launched a silent spell at me. I shut my eyes, looking away and shoved my sonic in front of me, pressing the button. Oh, I hope this worked.

I felt a jolt hit me, my body had completely frozen. What in the world had he hit me with? I couldn't even see if my sonic had done anything to him. Aryn and Kaal were staring at the man. _What?_ my mind yelled, begging for answers. What the hell just happened?

"Kaal, I think we should just stop and go with him," Aryn said, slowing backing away from me. I knew then that the wood setting still didn't exist. _Great, just great_, I thought, my body rigid as a board. Attacked by a wizard, and unable to move at all. I felt the ground fall from under me. What was happening? I could see Aryn and Kaal going white. What was he doing?

"Well, _Inspector_," he spat out, mocking me. "Guess I'll have to take you to Headmistress McGonagall for proper punishment." He looked at me, still frozen. He laughed. "That stupid wand you have; doesn't it work against wood?"

I wanted to kick this man, and the one who made the sonic WITHOUT a wood setting! I was seething at this point, my body screaming for release from the spell that had hold of me. When I struggled to break it, I couldn't. Damn sonic! He had levitated me for ease of movement, and had Aryn and Kaal at wand-point as he led us out of the greenhouse. As we were making our way past the gardens, I saw something I'd never expected to see.

I gasped internally. There was no way; they shouldn't be here. They were from my time, my world—and they were piddling about the garden like it was their home! I had to try and tell someone, but there was nothing I could do until he released me from whatever spell he'd cast on me. And by that time, it might be too late.


	4. Mind Weaver

Professor Longbottom was guiding us up to the Headmistress' office when one of the other professors saw us. "Neville! What on earth are you doing?"

"They're imposters, Calvin; they told the Headmistress that they were educational inspectors." The man couldn't believe it.

"Do you need help?" he asked, eyeing Aryn.

"No; I'm quite all right, thanks. Can you find someone to cover me for my next class?"

"Yeah, sure, Neville; let me know what sentence these three get. Sad that it's good-looking women, though." He shook his head and bade the professor good-bye. Right as we rounded a corner, something hit us. All of us. I fell hard to the ground, and was able to reach out and brace myself. I blinked. Wait—I blinked? I moved my hands, felt my face. I was free! But—how? This didn't make sense. I looked around; I could see Aryn and Kaal. The professor who'd been escorting us was also there, looking a bit dazed.

"Where are we?" he demanded after coming around.

"I don't know," I shot back. I honestly didn't know. At all. But those Sontarans… we had to stop them from whatever their plan was. Taking over a magic school would provide them with the slaves and labor they would need to conquer this planet, which I assumed was called "earth" due to the conversation I'd heard from the other fellow. So we got the right planet, I think. I'd have to double check that with the TARDIS records. "What year is it?" I asked him. We could at least get that out of the way.

"Why does it matter? Why are you three even here?"

"I need to know what year it is! That's why we're here!"

"Everyone knows that it's 2013; where have you been?" the man challenged. I sighed. Why did people think they knew everything?

"I don't rightly know when I was," I snapped. "I was busy trying to survive, if you don't mind!"

The man looked at us with complete confusion. "Surviving? That's what you call impersonating official Ministry personnel?"

"I don't have time for this," I muttered, getting up from the cold stone floor.

"Well, you better make some time, because I have a lot of questions that— "

"I can't answer right now!" I burst. I glared at the man and started looking around for clues. What had triggered this? What was going on? How was I able to move around?

"Uh, Chancellor; you might want to turn around," Kaal said. He didn't sound very happy. I turned and came face-to-face with our worst enemy. The long-time rivals of me and my fellow Time Lords.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of the creature. Its eye stalk whirred and clicked, taking in the four of us. "What are you doing here?!" I yelled at the creature. "There is no way in all of Gallifrey that you should be here!" I screamed at the being.

Its robotic voice rang out against the stone walls. "I exist to serve the Dalek Empire. I am only interested in destroying you, Time Lady. You were the one who took down my ship." Its gunstick and manipulator arm were out, ready to electrocute and destroy any and all who stood in the way of me. I stepped out in front of the group, my anger blazing at this thing. These creatures had taken away my husband, my brothers and sisters—so many of my people.

"You remember me, then?" I said, grinning malevolently. "Then you know what happened to the ten ships prior to yours, and the ten ships after. Why should I care if you live or die, Dalek?"

"Because I have the means to return your husband to you." My throat caught.

"What? That's not possible. He died in the war! Your people, your empire—they killed him. All 13 incarnations of him. I had to watch him regenerate time after time, knowing he didn't have the means to stop them. But you didn't care," I seethed, walking up to the sleek metal body that encased the Kaled within. I pulled out my sonic and placed it on the eyestalk. "There is no way I can have my husband back, you bastard!" I pressed the button on my sonic, and the eyestalk went crazy. Its gunstick started to fire. "DUCK!" I cried, doing the same. I got behind it, and started for the doorway. "C'mon; we need to leave or that thing will destroy us." Aryn and Kaal followed wordlessly. The professor—damn that man! "Your wand will not do anything!" I cried, motioning him to follow.

"Then I'll die a hero," the man said, his eyes blazing with an intensity I'd only seen in one other man. The man who had given his life for me.

"Stop being a fool!" I yelled, pressing my sonic to the Dalek's eyestalk again. It messed him up to the point that the professor could get his way back towards us. I could tell he really wanted to stop the thing, but I doubted that any sort of magic would be able to penetrate that metal. Before I left, I needed to know. "How many Daleks are here?" I asked. It wouldn't do us any good if there were more than two.

"Enough to exterminate you!" the Dalek screeched, turning to attack me.

"Fat chance!" I exclaimed, planting my sonic on his eyestalk one last time before leaving the room. Its vision was pretty much gone at this point, relying only on sound now for following us. That helped us a little bit. I came running after the professor and caught Aryn and Kaal in one of the classrooms. "What is it?" I asked, breathing a little more heavily than I should have been. I had entered, but couldn't see what they were seeing. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking in their direction.

My heart leapt into my throat. It was me. Well, not exactly. It was a piece of myself. My old body. My very old, very dying body. The thing bore its eyes—my eyes—into all of ours. Neville wasn't sure what was going on.

"What's going on?" I asked slowly, hoping it would answer me.

The woman smiled at the four of us, as if she knew something we didn't. "Your greatest enemy is here, Chancellor. And I'm not talking about the Daleks; no, you're much more complicated than that. You grieve for your husband, yet have seemed to take a fancy to a human from earth." I swallowed. It was talking about Neville, the professor we'd just met. A fancy? I wasn't—I hadn't—my eyes flickered in unease. I was attracted, sure, but the man didn't know what I thought. And he never would.

"Stop spouting lies." I drew my sonic, unable to take my eyes off her.

"Lies? I'm only revealing the truth." The woman cocked her head to the side, a twitch tugging at her lips. She looked positively evil. Was this how I appeared in the war? Was that why people ran from me? I swallowed hard, my eyes never leaving her face.

"What is going on? Why is this happening? The Sontarans—"

"—are none of your concern." The woman took a few steps towards us.

"Stay back," I warned, again stepping in front of Aryn, Neville and Kaal.

"I wish only to let you know that this isn't going to stop until you figure out what's causing it. The Daleks will find you, and they will kill you." She stared at me, vengeance in her gaze. "You never gave them your name, did you?" she said, a wicked smile appearing on her face. My hearts thudded in fear.

"Why are you doing this? Why is this happening?"

"I'm the darkest part of you, Chancellor," she snarled. "Every dark thing you've been, every evil you've accomplished, all rolled into one." She gestured at her hair, her body and clothes. "This is you, dear Chancellor. All that you despise, but all that you long for again." I stared into the reflection of myself. My brown hair and brown eyes. It was insane. All of the darkness in me, everything I hated….every evil I'd done to survive. I swallowed; this was perhaps worse than fighting the Dalek ships, the Nightmare Child, the armies of the Meanwhiles and Neverweres. She was the embodiment of all of it. Spent and exhausted, Lord President Rassilon had made me one of the Chancellors. And then the decision to use my good friend, the Master, caused me no end of grief. That, too, was buried in her. In me.

Kaal spoke first. "What do you mean the darkest part of the Chancellor?"

The woman smiled. "Why don't you all go to sleep?" she said, lowering her hand. My eyes drooped. What was happening? I couldn't fall asleep! I needed to—

* * *

I woke up, back in my TARDIS and at the controls. What just happened? "Aryn, Kaal!" I called out, hoping to hear their voices.

"Chancellor?" Aryn said, emerging from the back of the TARDIS. Kaal was right behind her, along with the professor. He wasn't sure what to think at that moment.

"What is this place?" he asked, his eyes roaming all over, trying to take the sight in. They landed on the time rotor. "What is that?"

"Long story, Professor; not the time to really explain. Why are we back here?" I quietly asked myself. We had just been in a castle—Hogwarts, if I remember correctly. And since when had we gotten back to the TARDIS?

"Perhaps because we found out what we needed to know. We could have walked here and gotten in to go to sleep."

"But—that other place. The castle. We were pretending to be Education Inspectors. And then we got cornered." I bit my lip. Think! What was going on?

"Yeah, by you, nonetheless. That thing called you a Time Lady; what's a Time Lady?" the professor asked. He was beginning to annoy me.

"Again, nothing to be concerned about, Professor."

"You might as well drop it; I'm not your professor. My name is Neville."

"Well, Neville, drop it. It is of no concern to you or them, so leave it alone," I clipped off rather harshly. Think! What sort of thing could have caused this?

"Well, is this reality or was the other one reality?" Kaal questioned, hoping for an answer.

"I don't know, Kaal; I'm trying to think!" My mind spun through all the knowledge that I had, whirring and puzzling through a thousand scenarios that this could be. I was startled from my thinking by her again. The woman. "What do you want?" I asked in a low voice, debating on whether to kill her or not. The thought turned me. I was seriously considering this. I didn't know what else to do.

"I want you to see where you are." She smiled and pointed out the window in the front door. "There; do you see?" I dashed to the door. I stared, my hand covering my mouth.

"No; no, this can't be!" I cried. I turned to look at the woman. "Gallifrey is gone! It can't—what's happening?"

The woman looked at me with a calm and spiteful grin. "Oh, but Chancellor—I'm afraid it isn't. You have 20 minutes before Gallifrey destroys the Earth and takes its place. It's up to you to figure out which of these is real and which is a dream."

My eyes stung with tears. "But why? Why are you doing this?" I said, my voice catching. I had broken away from my planet for a reason. I couldn't bear to see or be who I once was. It was too horrible.

The woman narrowed her eyes at me. "It's your choice; Gallifrey or Earth. Which are you willing to protect? Oh, and don't forget about the other situation. I think it's time for you to sleep," she said, all of us collapsing in a heap on the floor of my TARDIS.

* * *

I struggled to wake myself. How in Rassilon's name—? The others were waking as well. "We've got to figure out which is which," I told them, pushing myself up from the stone floor.

"This is really starting to piss me off," Aryn said, her voice starting to get an edge to it. Neville sat there, his face screwed up as he was concentrating. On what, I'm not sure.

"Neville, what's wrong?" He looked up at me.

"This is all revolving around you. What makes you so special? What do I even call you? Your name isn't Smith."

"It's the Chancellor," Aryn told him. "That's what we call her; she won't give us her real name, like it's some big secret or something."

I busied myself with checking on my sonic. I needed to make sure the settings all worked. I should have done it on the ride here, but I was enjoying myself too much. I also wasn't in the mood for talking about myself. It was too hard. Too much. The woman appeared again. "Ah, I see you're all here again; maybe you can find a way to defeat the Daleks. Or is this the dream, and the other the reality?"

"What are you, besides a manifestation of myself? You have to be doing this for a purpose."

The woman pursed her lips. A sly smile crossed her face. "You can call me…. The Mind Weaver. Isn't that what the pirate commander called you? Good luck fighting," she said as she shimmered out of sight. I threw my sonic across the room in frustration, anger starting to boil my blood. The Daleks were still out there, and I was angry. Perhaps it was time to prepare for war again.


	5. Dalek Dilemma

"Okay; okay, we need to come up with a plan. We've got a sonic screwdriver, a wand, and no weapons. Do either of you have anything we can use?" I asked Aryn and Kaal. I was hoping for something—anything. Anything at this point would be useful. Their search turned up some strange candy in Aryn's pocket while Kaal came up with pocket lint. And that's when I realized we were in deep trouble. We had absolutely nothing except my sonic that would work against the Daleks. But perhaps—perhaps that would be enough. I retrieved my sonic from across the room, madly inspecting it. I couldn't be sure of all the settings, but there might be something I could do besides use it against the eyestalk. It didn't work against wood, but that didn't mean I couldn't trap them all in using the metal locks on the doors. I turned to Neville, the one who knew the castle the best.

"Where would be the best place to draw the Daleks to?"

Neville looked at me with incredulity. "I barely understand what's going on, much less why you would want to trap the things that are trying to kill us!" he voiced angrily. "You've gotten me into this mess, and I'm not sure that this is even real!"

"So you think it's the other world that's real? The one where my people are trying to destroy the Earth?"

"Why would your greatest enemy all of a sudden appear when there is no rational explanation for them to be here? Magic wouldn't draw beings like that to this school."

I paused. He did have a good point. But at the same time—why would I be in a position of choosing between Gallifrey and Earth? I'd already been in that position before. There was no way that it could be happening again, was it? Of course, messing with time travel could bring this situation up again. I had no idea. I'd never really been involved with any dangerous time moments before.

What else did I have at my disposal? When I heard them behind me, my heart leapt and I stuck my sonic out at them. "Don't come any closer," I warned the two Daleks that were in front of us.

"We offer you a truce; we give you the husband you lost, and you allow us to take over this planet." The Dalek's tinny voice echoed slightly off the stones. I swallowed hard.

"How would you be able to give me my husband back? He died on Gallifrey to protect me."

The Dalek allowed a transmission to come through his system. A voice rang out from the Dalek's speakers. "Hello? Where am I? Is anyone there?" His tone was wary, his voice not low, but not high either. I didn't recognize it.

"That's not him; you're tricking me," I said, my voice low and threatening to the Daleks. I brandished my sonic like a weapon, almost tempted to try and take over one so I could kill the other. Like I said, I did what I had to during the war, and it was my last desperate attempt to find some semblance of order.

"Who's that?" the voice from the transmission demanded.

"Who are you?" I lashed out. "What is your name?"

"Hazander, before I enrolled at the Academy."

"What academy?" There was a pause and then an accusatory huff.

"I'm not telling; why would you care to know?"

"I need to know who you are!" I snarled at the voice.

"Then why don't you tell me your name, woman? I can't just call you 'woman'!" he spat.

"That's unnecessary—"

"It's completely necessary. Tell me your name!" I wanted to go through that beam and strangle the man on the other end. I didn't know who he'd regenerated into, so he could be telling the truth. His name had been Hazander, but there were more than one of those who'd been accepted into the Academy. For all I know, they were using my fears and my mind against me. Wait, if they were doing that, this had to be the dream. It must be. No one knew my name. It would be exactly the reason they wanted me to unveil it.

"Kill me," I told the other Dalek. "Just get it over with." I spread my arms out, and looked to the ceiling, closing my eyes. At least I could try to fix the other situation. When no flash or beam hit me, I looked back. I saw that blasted woman again. My vehemence for her was growing, bit by bit. "What the hell is going on?! We know which one is the real one, and which one's the dream! Just let us go to the other," I said, stepping towards her threateningly. My scowl deepened, the woman standing there without a care and smiling devilishly.

"Are you so sure, Chancy?" she teased, trying to rile me up. Well, after everything that was happening, yeah, I was definitely getting riled up. I stepped to her and swung my fist at her face. She was so irritating! My hand hit nothing. Then I heard her behind me. The others were watching in shock. "Now, now, Chancy; that wasn't nice." I marched back over to her, my face darkening even more.

"I'm not intending to be 'nice'!" I growled, stopping in front of her. "We need to go to the reality, and save the other planet, and you're sure as hell not going to stop me."

"Oh, but I'm afraid I can." I gritted my teeth. I didn't want to, but I knew of a way to stop my hearts, effectively killing my body so I could go back to the reality. A small whisper almost convinced me that the other reality couldn't be trusted either. I shook my head slightly. No way. It had to be. I'd been there. I looked at the rest of the group. All they had done was stand there, unsure of whether they could enter the conversation or not.

"Well, what do you all think?" I asked, trying to calm myself down. It would be best to get their opinion anyways. Then we could all make an informed, fair decision. I'd been ready to leave them here with no way of getting out. They looked startled that I even acknowledged them. "What do you make me out to be? A cold-hearted Time Lady with no thought to anyone else?"

"Well—" Neville began.

"Shut it," I snapped. "Answer the question; which do you think is the reality, and which do you think is the dream?"

"Remember, if you die in the reality, you're really dead," the woman replied, looking each of them in the eyes. "So make sure you know which is which." All three of them swallowed hard, and looked at me. I arched my eyebrow and gave a slight nod. I knew this was wrong; it had to be. Like Neville said, there was no reason for the Daleks to be in Hogwarts, no reason for them to want magic users like himself. But Gallifrey—Earth—yeah, that was real. I knew that had happened. I'd been there, and if it hadn't been for my friend, I wouldn't have made it out alive. The woman had taken us back, and I had to fix it. Something was wrong there. I knew this wasn't right. It couldn't be.

Aryn replied first, her voice and posture confident. "This is the dream; the TARDIS is the reality." She caught my eye and smiled. She trusted me. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Kaal looked at me and Aryn uncertainly. He was still trying to decide. Neville spoke up, catching us all off-guard. "This is the dream and the other is too. So where does that leave us?" he asked the woman, challenging her. But—could that really be possible?

The woman looked at him in an almost seductive fashion, smiling. "You are quite the brazen one, Magic Wielder. But I'm afraid that's not the question we're here to answer. Which is real?"

"Between the two, it's the other one. This world, those—creatures we encountered; they can't be real. They have no reason to be here and to use us."

"All right, your answer is noted. Kaal?" The man looked at her, confusion etched on his face.

"She has my thoughts, Kaal; she knew your name because of me," I explained.

"Right," he said, not convinced. He looked again at me, his hand resting where his blaster normally was. Son of a Dalek—that would have helped so much at this point! A noise started at the door, breaking my concentration on the woman. All of us got distracted. When I glanced back her way, she had left without a word and we were still here.

"When I get my hands on that woman—" I cursed. She'd left us here again! The others had started backing away, a Dalek advancing towards them. "Hey!" I yelled at the Dalek. "The Time Lady's this way, you sorry sack of a Dalek! You want a challenge? Come get me; they aren't worth your time." The Dalek's eyestalk sought me out, and changed direction. I motioned for them to hustle out of the room. I distracted it until they had left. A chase it was then.

I grinned like a mad Time lady, and sped out of the room, quickly catching up to them. "Neville, is there anything, any creature, possibly any spell, that may help us in slowing these things down?" I had dismissed his magic earlier; maybe I shouldn't have. It could be possible that it would save us. We took a staircase, the whole thing shifting and moving after we'd got on it. "What in all of Galli—?"

"The staircases move; it's part of the castle. Though, if you didn't know that, then why would they do it if this was the dream?" he asked, suddenly unsure of himself. This was not what I'd seen from this man so far. He was confident, courageous even at times. Not unsure. That made me a little hesitant. Maybe—maybe this was dream. But then how had we gotten so mixed up? Could I be wrong?

"Chancellor, we need to figure out a way to stop the Daleks. We don't know how many there are, or where they are," Kaal said, jarring me and Neville from our thoughts. He turned to Neville. "We need your knowledge to get through this." The Zabrak's emerald eyes bore into the man's. I could see Neville wracking his brain for some sort of solution. He was mumbling too. I could only make out certain words.

"—Body Bind? No … Carpe retractum? Don't want to pull the thing to me … creatures, creatures—I wonder…" He looked up and ran to the top of the stairs. It had thunked into place, leading into a hallway that Neville must have known. We scrambled after him, and I wondered what he was thinking of. "These Daleks—they have a fear, right?"

"Everybody has fears," I replied, my hearts thumping as the Nightmare Child came to mind. And the Could've Been King and—I shivered. Not now. Not right now. I focused on following Neville into a classroom, knowing that Kaal and Aryn were behind me. "Why? What are you trying to find?"

Neville flashed us a smile. My hearts skipped a beat. "A boggart."

"What's that?" Aryn asked, confused. We all were.

"A boggart takes on your worst fears; so if these Daleks have a fear, something or someone they fear above all else—"

"They'll conjure it if they're in the same room as the boggart," I finished, a bit of awe in my voice. "But where do you know that has one of these?"

Neville grinned. "I've gotten with the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and we've been working on cleaning the castle of all the unnecessary creatures. We've found numerous boggarts, and we haven't gotten rid of this one yet." He tapped the wardrobe we were standing in front of. It was a rather ingenious idea. I wondered if I could pull the Daleks into the classroom using my mind ability. It would be a stretch, but it could be possible.

"I might be able to get them here; I don't know how many Daleks there are, but maybe if one goes, the others will follow." Aryn and Kaal knew about my ability, but Neville gave me an odd look. "Is there a different place we can go to so we aren't trapped in here with them?"

"How are you going to draw them in if we aren't here to draw them in?" I grimaced.

"You'll see." I wasn't ready to give him any more details unless necessary. "We need to get somewhere else. I need to be somewhere they can't get to." Neville nodded thoughtfully, then led the way out of the classroom. He paced in front of a wall in one of the hallways, murmuring something to himself. I thought he was crazy until a door appeared in the wall. "What in Rassilon's name just happened?" I wondered aloud.

"The Room of Requirement; c'mon, best to get inside before any of those Daleks see us." He motioned us into the room, shutting the door behind us. I had found myself a place to lie down so I didn't have to worry about collapsing while doing my mind trick. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing; if it only required a quick mind take-over, I wouldn't have had to lie down. As it is, this was going to require a little bit of finesse, therefore more time and energy. I'd confused Daleks before in the Time War; it was one of my specialties. All it usually took was a quick thought and they'd turn on each other. This was going to be more secretive, a way of luring them into our trap. I felt my mind leave my body, touching Aryn, Kaal and Neville. Not who I wanted. I drifted further out, seeking out the Kaleds' life forces. Something faint and sinister caught my attention to the left. They hadn't been far behind us. I could sense one, two—four of them. Four Daleks? Yeah, something was definitely wrong. I had never seen this many Daleks needed against four people before. Of course, I might have something to do with that seeing as how I took out Daleks left and right in the War. The lead Dalek—I could feel him. I had to choose the right moment to invade his mind. As soon as he was distracted by his companions, I entered in. I shuddered at the lack of emotions. It felt so—empty. All I could sense was hate. Hate for everything. Hate for the humans, hate for me, hate for the situation. But I could also sense a small modicum of fear as well. When I tried to access it, I couldn't. The kaled's mind had shut me off from it. It was fighting me as I tried to control it, and I finally shoved the consciousness into the back of its mind. This one was much harder to take over than the sick Zabrak's. It was still fighting as I maneuvered the body and shell towards the classroom Neville had pointed out to me.

"We must exterminate the Time Lady and her companions; where are you leading us?" one of my—it's—people asked.

"I heard them in this hallway," I replied, the voice coming out making me wince inwardly. I did not want to do this again. The hate, vengeance, and the fight with the kaled were draining me quickly. This would take time to recover from when I was done. A noise emanated from the classroom Neville had showed us. "They are in there; coordinate!" I screeched, the sound grating my ears. Two of them flanked me while the other one was preparing to enter the room. With a quick move forward, the single Dalek entered the room, its voice powerful enough to scare the group into silence. When it looked around for the group and didn't find a single member, it called back to us.

"Room secured; no personnel found."

I entered, the machine whirring and settling into the room. "But I heard something."

"We should check the other rooms to be certain," the one on the left of me replied. Something rattled in the room, and we quickly found that it was the wardrobe Neville had pointed out to me earlier.

"Blast the door open; they're hiding!" I screamed. The one closest to it took the door off its hinges, and a man in a pin-striped blue suit with red hi-tops stepped out. I didn't recognize him at all. He grinned at the Daleks, who were all huddled with me now. I let the kaled reclaim what was his, and could feel his fear growing. Who was this that could inspire such fear in a Dalek of all things? "It's the Doctor!" it exclaimed, backing away from the man. I gasped. So that's what he looked like now? He looked so young…. I wondered which reincarnation he was on. His hair was somewhat spiked and messy, his brown eyes holding a cold gleam in them.

"Ah," he replied, walking towards the Daleks. "Well, what do we have here? Daleks, is it?" The Doctor stood there, studying these four creatures. "Yes, I remember you; stinking, filthy, worthless Daleks. I can see you remember me." There was that roguish smirk again. What was this boggart going to do? I knew I should really have gone back, but I was curious as to how much this boggart was capable of; I'd never asked Neville about it.

"The Time Lady; she invaded my mind to lead us here," the lead Dalek told the others. "She's the one who led us to the Doctor!"

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the three Daleks yelled as they charged toward the man. He pulled out his sonic and shorted out the systems in the right one, took the sight from the middle one, and the left one managed to shoot off a few rounds with his gunstick before the Doctor could get to him. His appearance wavered, the shots having caught him in his midsection. I gasped. It flickered and the boggart staggered back into the wardrobe. My thoughts were numb. They were going to see that it had been an illusion. I needed to warn the others. I drifted back through the wall to my body, settling back into my skin. My eyes opened to Kaal pacing, Aryn sitting beside me, and Neville looking bored.

"Hello all," I croaked, my throat dry. That always happened with the strong ones. I swallowed, the moisture helping coat my throat. "Any water around here, by chance?" Neville had quickly produced a glassful which I gratefully took. "Thanks," I said, tipping the glass towards him. I gulped it down, then set it on the couch. "All right, well, the boggart managed to get two of them down, but there are two more still out and about. One of them shot the thing and it went back into the wardrobe."

"What did the boggart turn into that could kill those things?" Neville asked, a little stunned at what I had told them.

I paused. I knew who he was, but none of them knew. "It was the Doctor." All of them gave me looks of puzzlement. "I know him from my planet. He's a Time Lord like me." I glanced at the wall, the last two Daleks still on my mind. "There are two left; I still think the other one is the reality."

"But, Chancellor, if we die here and this is the reality, then we die for good." I looked at Aryn; she was young and scared, never having been in a situation quite like this one.

"It's a chance we have to take, I'm afraid." I looked at Neville, who looked concerned. His eyes held what looked like sorrow in them. "Neville, this isn't the first time you've had to make this choice, is it?" I asked softly.

His eyes met mine. "No," he said quietly, his wand in his hands. He studied it for a minute, his attention now occupied by his own thoughts.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to go out there and have them kill me just yet," Kaal answered, an edge to his voice. He'd been in something similar, and his fight instinct was starting to drive his emotions and adrenaline.

"Kaal, you don't have a blaster, and this isn't the real world!" I exclaimed. "I'm convinced that this is the dream and that we need to save the Earth from getting overtaken by my planet."

"Why that scenario?" Neville asked. "Why is your planet even here?" His eyes bore into mine, a cold fire starting in them. "Why are you here?"

I lost my words for a second; I had to look away as I spoke. "I'm here because of a friend."

"That's not much of an answer," he replied, standing up. "We're no closer to figuring this out than you are, and I'm bloody well not staying here like some coward; I'll fight until the last, if that's what it comes down to." The man certainly carried confidence in himself and his abilities. He looked at the others. "You lot ready?" he asked, gripping his wand tight. Something had made him this way. Something big. That wasn't my concern right now. Right now we needed to focus on getting out of this nightmare and to the other one. How that was going to happen was beyond me, but I had a feeling Neville Longbottom would play a role in this somehow.


	6. Goodbye and Good Riddance

Kaal managed to find a war hammer and a mace in the pile of junk that lay strewn about the room, and Aryn had gotten hold of a shield and a wand. "How's a wand going to help you?" I asked, amused she would even have taken one.

"I don't know, but it's better than nothing," she shot back.

"But you don't even have magi—"

"Shut up! Are all of you ready?" Neville asked, his hand on the doorknob. All three of us nodded, ready to do whatever we could to survive. He yanked the door open, surprising the two remaining Daleks. Green bolts of magic shot towards them, bouncing harmlessly off their metal bodies.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" they screamed as they made their way to us. I activated my sonic and aimed it at the first one's eyestalk. Kaal bounced towards the second one, his war hammer coming down on its domed head. I heard a crack, and saw that he had indeed just split the dome. Aryn gaped at him, at a loss for words. Kaal threw a grin back at us. The Dalek was still operational though, and he shot Kaal in the stomach. He fell to the stone floor, clutching his stomach and groaning.

"Don't worry, Kaal! You'll just be in the other reality; we'll be there soon!" I told him, wasting seconds in meeting his eyes. He gave a weak smile and closed his eyes. Instantly, my defenses were back up. "Aryn! Use your shield and see if you can direct some magic into the crack in the Dalek's dome."

She nodded, slowly making her way forward. Neville had been shot by the Dalek I was trying to take out. He was trying to continue fighting, but his wand wasn't working against the creatures.

"Help Aryn," I whispered to him, hoping he would just go and help her deal with the one Dalek. "I've got this one." He looked at me with something that looked like worry, then nodded. "Don't worry about me," I added, more for his benefit than my own. He didn't bother to acknowledge the words; he just ran to Aryn and hid behind the shield with her. The shield was actually holding up rather well; must be the magic it was imbued with. I concentrated on my own Dalek, my sonic at the ready. I dodged a shot, then used my sonic on its eyestalk. It went crazy, trying to fire all over the place, but I managed to keep it mostly aimed around myself. I wondered if I should do my trick. It would probably be for the best. I slipped quickly into the Dalek's mind, planting thoughts of betrayal and subterfuge in its mind to turn it on the other Dalek. I went back just as quickly, and saw that my efforts were not in vain as the Dalek I was fighting turned suddenly to the other and blasted it. The combination of Neville and Aryn's efforts with the swift shot from the other Dalek rendered the third Dalek lifeless. Then it turned towards me again. "You—must—be—EXTERMINATED!" it screeched, getting ready to fire a bolt of energy at me. Without warning, the ground below the Dalek opened up and it fell, screaming the entire way. I stared at the hole in the stone floor for a moment, shocked at the outcome. But how—? Neville; Neville had used his wand to make the stones disappear. Aryn was trying to help ease him to the floor. The shot he'd taken was causing him to slip away fast.

"We'll see you on the other side," I promised him, gripping his hand tight. He coughed, gave a weak smile and closed his eyes. He was gone. I looked up at Aryn, her face etched with pain.

"Chancellor, what are we supposed to do now?" she asked, her voice thick with sadness. It almost sounded like she was on the verge of crying, but trying to hold it back.

I took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to quietly stop Aryn's heart so she could pass to the other reality. I'd be following right after, but that all halted when that woman showed up again. "What is it?!" I shouted, my anger swallowing me as I threw a fierce glare at her. "What do you want from us? We've already gotten rid of the Daleks, so there's nothing else to defend ourselves from," I snapped at her. She smiled wickedly. My fury started to consume me, and as I reached out to grab her, she forced us asleep.

* * *

As I woke in my TARDIS, I could hear Neville and Kaal talking. They had been discussing my TARDIS, and Kaal had been telling him about everything that had happened at the base on Hoth. My eyes caught the silver columns and the blue and green organic-looking interior. Still like it was before. I was trying to notice if there was any detail about my TARDIS that was off, but nothing seemed to be amiss. I pulled myself up from the floor, making my way to the console to see that everything was in order.

"Oiy! So you're an alien?" Neville asked, walking up to me and the console. He looked like wanted to poke me, and he did so with his wand. I shoved it out of my face.

"Yes," I growled. "I'm not in the mood to have people poking me right now! We've got other problems to deal with." I positioned my monitor so I could see what was going on outside. The other three crowded around it with me, taking in the sight of my planet coming ever closer to Earth.

"So that's Gallifrey," Aryn murmured, her hand rising up and touching the screen. I averted my eyes. "It looks so desolate."

"That's what it became after the war; fields and ravines filled with desolation and the scars of war." I held back tears, then shook my head from my thoughts. I had to focus. I looked up at the screen and grabbed my keyboard. "I wonder if I can bring up a closer view of what's happening on Earth regarding all of this."

"Trying to pinpoint the location of its orgin?" Kaal asked, going into technical mode.

"Yes; now if I can just—" My fingers flew over the keyboard, hoping to zoom in on the events that were unfolding. Kaal was over to the right, working himself on a triangulation algorithm so we could get a better point of origin.

"Got it!" he shouted, transferring his solution to the screen. I added my own bit of programming, and soon we were looking at a room that had the Master and the Lord President and his council in it. I gasped. I saw myself there, along with my friend. "Where's the Doctor?" I said, looking in the room for him. "He should be there; the Lord President said he'd be there." I knew what he looked like now, and I couldn't see him anywhere. "Where is he?" I said, starting to panic. "He's supposed to be stopping this from happening!" I froze as I heard the Lord President speaking.

"You are diseased; albeit, a disease of our own making. Sorry, Master, but we are done with you." The Lord President stepped down from his spot and started walking towards the Master.

"No!" I shouted. "No, you can't kill him!" It was then I decided I needed to be down there. If the Doctor wasn't there, someone had to be. "I've got to go; Kaal, take charge of the TARDIS. I've got a world to save." He nodded, handing me his blaster and taking my place, getting ready to transfer me to the room.

"But what about us?" Aryn asked, her face filled with fear.

"Don't worry; I'll be back. You'll be fine; Kaal knows this TARDIS almost as well as I do by now. I'm ready," I said to Kaal. He nodded and activated the transfer beam. In a matter of seconds, I was in between the Lord President and the Master. "Stop!" I yelled, looking at the Lord President. He blinked, as if he couldn't believe I was there.

"But you—who are you?" he queried, looking hard at me. He glanced behind himself, and I saw myself there. This was a wild chance I was taking, crossing my own time stream. Time would start to unravel soon if I didn't get this done quickly.

"It doesn't matter," I said, faking my confidence. "I'm here to stop you; you wouldn't listen before, but you better listen now. This has gone on long enough, Lord President; you will not take this man's life into your own hands. I will not allow it. You've had your time; now you need to go back." I stood tall, facing Rassilon head on. His eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't kill me," he said quietly, smirking as he talked. "You don't even know me."

"Oh yes, I do, and don't bet on it," I snarled, shoving the blaster in his face.

"Well, you're obviously one of us, but no one I remember."

I gritted my teeth. I so wanted to tell him, to shove in his face the fact that I escaped from him and his mad band of Time Lords. I was desperate to sever the link that had brought him and the rest of the planet here, and that meant killing the Lord President. "I can kill you, breaking the link and sending you back from where you came," I bit off, my anger and rage towards him growing by the second.

"Or you can kill the Master; the link is in his head, after all." I shook my head and thrust the blaster against his chest and pressed it. He cried out, clutching one of his hearts. I then shot the other heart. No one made a move; they were all too shocked at my actions. The Lord President fell to the ground, his blank eyes staring up at the ceiling, his hands still covering both hearts. I felt some pity; after all, had he not gone through with his disgusting plan, this would never have happened. He wanted to be immortal, to try and become one with everything in the universe. And the rest had become drunk on his words.

I looked at the Master; he stared at me as if I was a monster. Perhaps I was. Perhaps, with this final act of treason against the Lord President of the Time Lords, I was now truly a monster and banned from ever coming to Gallifrey again. No matter to me; I no longer wanted to associate with them, not after what they'd done to my friend.

The Lord President, I knew, had been on his last regeneration. There was no coming back for him. He'd lived thousands of years already. His time was done. I looked at my friend, the other Chancellor. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. I motioned her forward. She came, tentatively. I grasped her hand in mine. "It's your turn now," I told her, laying my other hand on top of hers. "They belong to you." She was surprised, but then looked closer into my eyes. The light, the strength—she could tell it was me. I smiled at her.

"I need to go," I said, slipping my hands out of hers. She nodded. In a matter of seconds, she and the others from the council disappeared, along with every trace of Gallifrey. I breathed a sigh of relief. The Master was still behind me, angry.

"Why did you do that?" he barked, striding up to me. I turned around to meet him. Is this what he'd really become?

"I did it to save you," I seethed. "I didn't want to see you die again, and I couldn't bear to sit by and watch; I needed to save you." The Master scoffed at me. Had he really forgotten? "Don't you remember anything from before?" I asked, tensing as his attitude and persona were nothing like I'd seen before.

"I remember the Doctor—up until I killed him just recently." My jaw dropped.

"You—you what?"

"I killed him; I killed the Doctor," he said, a malevolent grin spreading across his face. "You know him too?"

My eyes stung. I couldn't cry, not now. "Yes, and I thought I knew you!" I said, forcing myself to hold back the tears. The Master's smile vanished.

"What do you mean, you thought you knew me? The Time Lords brought me back to fight in the Time War; no one but the Doctor and Tala knew me." I choked as he said my name. I couldn't hold the tears back any longer.

"Don't say that name," I said, wiping my eyes with my sleeves. "Don't you dare say that name again!" I wanted to be angry with him, I wanted to slap him for speaking my name aloud, but I couldn't. This was my best friend. His face wore a question, and with my last statement, he understood.

"But I didn't know—"

"Don't! Just don't, okay? I did what I had to, and I'm not going to do it again," I said, my tears starting to abate. I sniffed, trying to compose myself again. "Just promise that you'll be here for the humans, all right? Now that the Doctor is gone, it needs a new guardian."

The Master scoffed. "Why don't you do it?"

"Because I have other places to be!" I snapped, my eyes red from the crying. "You're the one who killed the Doctor; ergo, you are the one to replace him, Koschei. I'm not telling you again." The Master scowled, but nodded. "Are you going to be okay here?" I asked him.

"I guess; I don't have a TARDIS, though. How's that going to work?"

I shrugged. "I guess you'll have to use the Doctor's."

"But it's a type 40! How's it even still running?" he complained.

"Beats me; you'll either have to remodel it, or deal with it." I took one more look at him. He wasn't evil; at least, he never intended to be. It was just that the Doctor—Thete—was just so damn clever that it made the rest of us look like fools compared to him. And it made Koschei jealous. That was why they split apart as friends. I'd never taken either one's side; I was content to stay friends with the both of them until Thete decided to run off with a museum TARDIS. It was during that time that Koschei and I had become closer friends, and it was Koschei who told me I should marry Hazander. He'd been the one to introduce us to each other. Now it was all different; there was no more Hazander, no more Doctor, and Koschei was left to defend the Earth. Not the best of situations, but it was the best we could do right now. I gave Koschei a hug, which he didn't return, and bade him goodbye one last time. I tapped my wrist, activating the return signal. We could finally return Neville to his rightful place, and hopefully be on our way without dealing with any other witches or wizards. Looking back, I should have known that wouldn't be the case.


	7. Learning to Trust

**A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been working on polishing up my betas' stories, and trying to work on this simultaneously. I figured I should bang the rest of the chapter out this morning, and get back to the other after. This has some interesting stuff come up, and I can't wait to see what you all think. Thanks to my faithful reviewers, and as always, allonsy! **

* * *

I found myself back in the TARDIS looking at Neville, Kaal and Aryn. None of them said a word. I walked stiffly back to the console, noticing that the screen was still on in the room. The Master was using his sonic to try and fix some of the computers and uploading information to his sonic that the humans shouldn't have. At least he was listening to me, the one person he actually remembered besides Thete. He'd said my name once; the rest were still staring at me as if I'd grown horns or something. "What is it?" I asked quietly, not sure why they were looking at me in that way.

"You just—you went down there and killed a man," Aryn said, her arm pointing to the screen. It was shaking slightly.

"He was about to kill the other man, and he had to be stopped," I said simply. I should have turned off the screen before leaving.

"He did nothing to you—"

"And he was about to kill billions of people for no other reason than to see his own race reborn!" I yelled. "He drove that man insane, and created a link with him to do so. That man believed his entire life that he was born that way when the man I killed made him that way. He wanted to wipe out _every other being in this galaxy_ to escape his fate. Would you rather I had let him live?" I challenged Aryn. She stood still, her lip quivering and looking on the verge of tears. "If you're going to cry over a psycho like the one I killed, do it somewhere else." Aryn ran to the hall and quickly shut herself into one of the rooms. Kaal was also standing at the console, a frown deepening on his face. "What? I've dealt with that man longer than all of the years you lot have lived—combined. He is a raging, homicidal lunatic. I wasn't going to watch him destroy my friend again, not when I could prevent it."

"You're telling me there was no other way for you to save your friend and not kill that man?"

"None that I know of." I busied myself with plotting the coordinates I'd put in before we had landed at Hogwarts. We had to get Neville back to his job. I was not about to get yelled at for taking him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. That damn woman showed up again. I hit my console as I threw a sideways scowl in her direction. "What the hell do you want? All we're looking to do is get everything righted again. The professor here is going back, and we'll be on our way."

The woman's mischievous grin only angered me more. "You completely missed the point of this entire exercise, Chancellor. Or shall I say—?"

"Don't you dare say my name; that is reserved only for those who we deem worthy, of which you certainly aren't. Koschei knows because we're good friends. Thete knows because we were also friends. I've chosen to be known as the Chancellor because I do not feel comfortable giving them my name."

Kaal's mouth opened slightly in shock. "After everything that's happened, after everything we've been through, you still don't consider us friends? You don't trust us with even your name?"

I bit my tongue. It was true; I didn't consider them friends. They didn't really know me. All they knew were flashes of images I allowed them to see. Was that the point in all this? That I needed to learn to trust? I thought over everything the Mind Weaver had said, her words soaking into my being. Was I really this dense? I had done everything almost on my own, not daring to trust these people at all but with a few tasks. They had been there for me, followed me into some dangerous situations not knowing if they would survive, and I was here saying I didn't trust them with my name? How pathetic; how so very, very pathetic. I looked back at the woman who called herself the Mind Weaver. "Is that it? Is it the fact that I don't trust anybody in this whole galaxy except myself and the other two?"

"Finally!" the woman exclaimed, her grin widening. "I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later."

I looked at the woman in pain. "So we went through all of this agony because you were trying to prove that trust is something I need to be doing?"

"Precisely. Now that you know, I'll let you all get back to the real situation at hand." I blinked. What did she mean by—?

* * *

My eyes fluttered open, my body still frozen and stiff as a board. I couldn't make any noise; I was still under that spell Neville had put on me. I could hear the others groaning, Kaal especially. Neville was on his hands and knees, his wand lying next to him. I could hear him taking a few deep breaths to wake himself up. He grabbed his wand and looked at me, still on his hands and knees. He flicked it, and my body relaxed considerably. I moved my jaw around. Man, that spell was something else. I flexed my fingers and rolled my wrists and ankles. The soreness would wear off in a matter of minutes. But what had caused us to be in that state? What had gotten hold of us to put us in such dire situations? Something rolled off me as I sat up. What in the world? I picked up what looked like a small crystal. Now where had this come from? I took a closer look at it. I knew this. Of all the things that I barely knew, this was one of them. It was a parasitic lifeform from the planet Karass Don Slava. A pollen of some sort; it sent its victims into a dream state, feeding and leeching off the darkest parts of them. Was that what it had done to us? Had it been forcing us to live through my darkness for nothing? I stared at the grain of pollen in my hand, pondering my choices. The woman talked about trust; something I usually didn't do. I'd trusted the Lord President, and he broke it when he made the Master's life his play-thing. I trusted the Master, and he had grown into something possibly worse than me. I had trusted my fellow Time Lords and Ladies, and they sided with Rassilon in breaking the Master. It wasn't hard to see why I had trust issues. Was I really willing to lay my trust on the line for my heart to be torn into pieces yet again? I didn't know. What I did know was that these three people had chosen to listen to me, and they trusted me even when I refused to trust them.

Kaal was standing but bent over, as if he was sick. He glanced at me, still trying to find the will to stand up straight. "What is that?" he asked, still doubled over. I didn't answer; I was looking to see if there was any more of this pollen around us. I saw more than I thought I'd find. I reached into a pants pocket and pulled out a small drawstring bag. I started putting the pollen in it; if it contacted anyone else, it could be bad. Who knows what darkness would lie in these—? My blood chilled at the thought. No. Could the Sontarans have been behind this? It was a strong possibility. Now that I knew the other two scenarios hadn't been real, this one very well could be. But how had they managed it? The people of Karass Don Slava would have noticed a Sontaran. Then again, the Candle Meadows weren't home to the shortest grass ever. A Sontaran or two could have easily hidden and grabbed what pollen they needed.

"This could be the start of the end for the witches and wizards in this place." Neville had used some healing spells to help Aryn and Kaal. I was already fine. Neville shot me a worried look.

"What do you mean 'the start of the end'?"

I held up the pollen; it lay in my hand, and I dumped it into the bag I had. "This; it's psychic pollen." Neville snorted. "Look, I'm not kidding here; those trials we went through were a result of this pollen," I said, holding up the bag. "It feeds off of a being's darkest thoughts and deeds. Of the few things I know, this is one of them. I think the Sontarans have gone to Karass Don Slava and grabbed an immense load of pollen to keep the witches and wizards from interfering with their takeover. It's the only possibility that makes sense. Why else would there be this much pollen in this place? No one but those from another galaxy even knows where the planet is."

"Then where are these 'Sontarans' you speak of?" Neville asked, a smirk on his face.

"In your gardens, _Professor_," I said, seething. "Those beings you see walking around without a care in the world? Those are Sontarans."

"Those are garden gnomes," Neville said with a laugh. "Not aliens."

"Really? How many have you seen up close?"

Neville paused, puzzled at my question. "Does it matter? They're garden gnomes."

"There's a spot in the back of their head that will stun them when it's hit. Did you know that? Did you also know that Sontarans are all clones, explaining why all those gnomes that 'don't matter' look so much alike? Did you know that Sontarans are one of the most feared species in the whole of the galaxy because once they start fighting, they never stop? You were there with us, fighting Daleks right alongside us, and you're telling me that you don't believe a word I'm saying right now?"

"Those were your darkest memories; if we were in your dream, why wouldn't I believe you?"

My face darkened. I held up the bag with the pollen. "How about we go into your darkest memories, Neville? What would come up if that happened?"

His eyes blazed. "You wouldn't dare—"

"Try me, wizard. You saw me kill a man; all of us would just be along for the ride." My lips were pressed tight, the tension between us growing more and more volatile by the minute. "Now think of that, and think of your friends; what would this do to them?"

He looked at me and I could tell his mind was buzzing with the implications of what the pollen would do to them. His eyes took on a hollow look, possibilities zooming around in his head. I could see it; I could see it all. "Harry" was all he said as he started towards the staircases. Why was this "Harry" so important? Neville himself had endured more than most; I could tell that from his defensive and evasive manner in confronting us in the Herbology class. If what this Harry faced was worse than that, then this pollen could potentially be lethal to him. Maybe. I'd never heard of it doing that, but with a situation like this, one never knew what the strange effects of magic and psychic pollen would do to a person. I was following Neville, and Aryn and Kaal were scrambling after me.

* * *

Neville bounded up the staircase leading to the Headmistress' office. He pounded on the door. "Professor McGonagall! Headmistress! There's an emergency!" I could hear muffled voices, and steps that grew louder. The door swung open. The Headmistress looked slightly perturbed.

"What is it, Professor Longbottom? And what are the educational inspectors doing with you? Don't tell me, Professor; they're dark wizards and need to be locked up in Azkaban," she said, her voice taking on a sarcastic tone. Neville quickly glanced at the ground, then back up at her.

"That's not it, Headmistress; we have a situation that warrants your attention. Is there any way to get in contact with Harry?"

"What does he have anything to do with this situation?"

"Because he could be in danger!" Neville said angrily. "You and I both know that he has a propensity for it, and it has probably already found him!"

"You're acting very peculiar, Professor; do you need to go see Madame Pompfrey again?"

"I don't need any more spells, and I'm not being unreasonable. I have very good reason to believe that the entire wizarding world is on the verge of another attack."

"From who?" she demanded to know. "Who could bring down an entire civilization?"

Neville bit his tongue. It sounded absolutely ridiculous. "Sontarans."

"What in the world are 'Sontarans'?"

"This is going to sound like absolute madness—"

"And telling me that Professor Malfoy needs to be locked up isn't madness?"

I could see that Neville was trying to control himself. "That was a whole other incident that we talked about and dismissed. This is a real situation."

"Professor Longbottom, no one doubts your unshakable loyalty to the Ministry, especially what you did as an Auror. You helped Potter and Granger put away more people than I thought possible, but once you started making wild, ungrounded accusations against wizards and witches, you didn't seem like a sane person anymore. I knew your love of Herbology would be a good fit for this school, and it's why I hired you. Ever since the Malfoy incident, I've been wondering if that was such a good idea." She had guided us into her office during her speech, and I took to the couch along with Aryn and Kaal. I didn't really understand most of what she said, but the parts about accusations and allegations would explain why he was so tense at seeing the three of us. Someone who'd been in charge of taking out bad guys could easily have a breakdown and think the world was after him. Apparently, something had happened to him to make him that way. It was definitely intriguing, to say the least.

I stood up. I couldn't keep this charade up any longer, and Neville looked on the verge of breaking down again. "Headmistress, I have a confession to make; we are not educational inspectors. Professor Longbottom was the one who caught us, and he was bringing us to you when something happened." The headmistress looked between Neville and me.

"What do you mean you're not educational inspectors? You showed me your Ministry credentials."

"Psychic paper, I'm afraid. See?" I said, holding up my ID holder with the psychic paper in it. "What is it telling you now?"

"That you're Ministry educational inspectors." I frowned. Really?

"Try looking at it closer," I said, handing it over to her. She inspected the ID holder, looking closer at the paper. She tapped it with her wand and gasped. Now she could see it clearly. Her face hardened as she looked up at the three of us.

"What is the meaning of this?" she growled, throwing the thing back at me.

"I, along with my fellow time-travelers, came here to verify that the Earth still existed. You see, I had reason to believe that this planet was in danger of being replaced by an alien planet called Gallifrey. We wanted to make sure the Doctor had prevented that from happening."

The Headmistress looked at us like we were insane. "There's been no indication, _ever_, that a person named the Doctor, or this planet you've mentioned, has existed. There's only magic in this world, my dear."

Now I grew puzzled. "What do you mean? There was a huge red planet coming to destroy this one; I was there. I remember it."

The Headmistress shook her head. "There's been no such thing, Miss….?"

"Smith."

The Headmistress frowned. "I know that's not your name."

"That's why I use an alias. Just call me Miss Smith for now. And there's been no sightings at all? This happened a few years back."

The woman looked over her glasses at me. "I don't remember anything of that sort happening; everyone would have seen it. Neville, have you seen this red planet Miss Smith's talking about?"

He shook his head. "She never even told me that's why she came."

I put my head in my hand in frustration, then looked back at the Headmistress and Neville. "All right, that's beside the point right now; Neville and the three of us came here to warn you about the threat that is coming to the wizarding world. You're about to be taken over."

"How do you know this?"

I gave Neville a side-long glance. "Because we've been exposed to the agent that will cause it. Professor Longbottom has witnessed first-hand what kind of danger this could be, especially to those with already tortured minds. He mentioned a Harry; is he someone important?" The woman only nodded her head, a little taken aback by everything we were telling her. "Well, this agent attacks and feeds off of dark memories. Am I right to conclude that this Harry fellow would be one of the people whose memories are darkest?"

The Headmistress wordlessly looked at Neville, who grimly nodded. "He's been through a hell of a lot in his life, and this—stuff, this pollen—could destroy him permanently," Neville replied, never taking his eyes off of the Headmistress. She sat on the edge of her desk, her hands flying to her mouth in worry, and shaking from the implication of what we were saying. We needed to reach this Harry fellow; his contact with the pollen, along with his magic, could envelope more people than we knew in his darkest of memories. And then the real madness would begin.


	8. Stars, Planets, and Magic

**A/N: I am sorry for the long wait; I've had a lot of life issues come up at the same time, plus additional things. I've been working on this slowly, but surely, and will possibly be delayed with the next chapter as well. Thank you so much for your patience as I'm working on this. Hello to all the new readers! Good to see you here. I hope you enjoy my story. Now, allons-y!**

* * *

The Headmistress had gone to the fire and threw some sort of greenish powder in it, shouted something, and stuck her head in. "What in all of Gallifrey is she doing?"

"It's called 'Floo powder'; it allows witches and wizards to travel through the Floo network, or communicate through the Floo network." I saw her talking, obviously to someone, and then she pulled her head out, stepping back. Why was she—? Then the man appeared. It took a second for me to process. Neville had called it a network; his place must be connected to the school's.

"But why this man's place? Who is he?" I asked.

The man's untidy hair and glasses caught my eye. He reminded me of someone I couldn't place. And his eyes were a bright green. Definitely strange. "You said I needed to get here as soon as possible, right? I didn't catch all of it; does it have to do with James again?" he queried. The hair—James—was this that boy's father? That boy who was so brash and brazen in the Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures class?

"No, Mr. Potter; I'm afraid not. We did have a discussion earlier today, but that is quite taken care of. This is a more urgent matter, I'm afraid," the Headmistress said, gesturing him to sit on the couch. He politely refused.

"Professor McGonagall—"

"Mr. Potter, you can call me Minerva, please." The man sighed, looking at her.

"Minerva, what could possibly be so important as to take me away from my job? We're in the middle of researching the activities of one Beluga Whittle, one of Voldemort's most notorious Death Eaters. What on earth could possibly be more important than that?"

I stepped forward, and his eyes met mine. "What about a take-over?"

Harry blinked. "What do you mean, a 'take-over'?"

"Exactly what I said. There's a group of aliens that have infiltrated your world and are planning on taking over by putting all the witches and wizards asleep to their darkest days."

"But who would want to take over? There have been no instances of aliens on this planet. Ever," Harry said, his arms crossing his chest. He looked at Minerva and Neville, and saw their faces. "What is wrong with you two? Do you seriously believe this?" He looked at them with incredulity. "You do believe them. Do you even know who they are?"

I cut in. "I know you don't believe me; there's no reason to believe me, but I promise that this is happening. Right here, right now. Neville and the three of us were caught in it earlier, and all of us were forced to live through my nightmares. So unless you feel the need to challenge what I and three others in this room have already gone through, I suggest you take me seriously."

He redirected his next question. "And how did this happen? How did you all become 'stuck' in this nightmare?"

"By someone hitting us with this," I replied, pulling out the bag with the psychic pollen in it. I carefully placed a few of them on my hand so that the Headmistress and Harry could see it. "It's psychic pollen; it attacks and leeches off of dark memories, continually challenging the dreamer and trying to force them to choose which world is real."

Harry recoiled slightly, then glared at me. "This is some kind of trick, isn't it? You brought me here to try and trap me."

"Why on earth would I do that?" I said, giving him a look of disbelief. "I have no reason to. I don't know who you are, other than James' father."

He quieted. "How do you know about James?"

"Me and my friends; we were trying to pass as educational inspectors and I saw your son as he left this office earlier. When we left to start our 'inspections', we ran into him during his classes." I saw Aryn and Kaal give each other a quick smile. That was strange. No matter. "That's all I know of you, besides what the Headmistress and Neville have told me. All they said was that this pollen would affect you the most because of whatever happened."

"And what did happen, Miss—?"

"Smith; call me Smith. I have no idea what on earth you're talking about. All I can tell is that between the three of you, something big happened that clearly affected the lot of you for the worst. What that is, is beyond me. I don't know anything about this place. All I know is that your name is Harry Potter, and that is Neville Longbottom, and the Headmistress' name is Minerva McGonagall."

"Who are the Weasleys?" he challenged.

"How the hell should I know?" I said, my anger starting to rise. Aryn quickly came next to me.

"Chancellor, I think you need to let me take this." She turned to Harry, shouldering herself accordingly. "Sir, the three of us only happened to come here just this morning. I'm sure if you ask the Headmistress, and perhaps the groundskeeper, that they will verify that the only time they have ever seen us is today. We came here by way of a TARDIS; I hail from the planet Coruscant, in the Galactic Core. Kaal Haress is from Nar Shadaa. I don't know if you've really looked at us, sir. Kaal, come here so Mr. Potter can see you better." She motioned for Kaal, and he willingly stepped forward. The marks on his face caught Harry's attention, and he stood there, riveted by them. Kaal brushed his hair aside, exposing his horns to all three of them. The Headmistress gasped, nearly fainting.

"I told you the truth!" I growled.

"I—believe you." He looked surprised that those words came out. He took a step towards me, then quickly took them back. "What are you?" he inquired, an unreadable look on his face.

I blinked. That had been quicker than I thought it would take. "As Aryn and Kaal told you, they are from the Galactic Core. I never studied about their system much on Gallifrey. I stuck to studying my own, the constellation Kasterborous, and those surrounding us. I guess you can call us aliens." Neville caught my eye, a slight smile playing on his lips. Harry sat down on the couch, head in hands. The Headmistress started pacing and mumbling to herself. "Look, I know it's a lot to process; I know that it's not exactly what you expected to happen, but it is, and we have to start getting rid of the Sontarans. Which, from what Neville has said, might be harder than we thought. We need to act."

"And do what?" the Headmistress questioned. "Where are they, even? How do you know that they're working on this 'plan'? I've never seen them."

"But you have; you've allowed them to come in and take up residence even here at Hogwarts without so much as a cursory check."

"That's preposterous! We check everything that comes onto these grounds."

"So you check the gardens and greenhouses?"

"Yes; there are some gnomes about, but they're not much of a proble—" The Headmistress stopped her pacing and faced me. That stern look was on her face again as she realized what I was referring to. "Garden gnomes? You think garden gnomes are aliens from another planet?" Harry let out a short laugh.

"Are you serious? You called me here because of garden gnomes? Minerva, I'm sorry, but I can't be bothered by garden gnomes." I impulsively gritted my teeth.

"Why would I kid around about something like this? Why was this psychic pollen here if they aren't planning a take-over? It makes no sense!"

Harry stood and walked toward me, eventually stopping when he could look down on me. "Perhaps you did to convince us they're taking over while you go around and start putting everyone into a dream-state. Then everything is yours for the taking." His blazing green eyes made me wonder who or what had done this to Harry, but now was not the time to be thinking about it.

"I would never do that to someone; having to live through my own memories was enough, let alone having someone else replay their own darkest days over. Like you. Or Neville. Or the headmistress. Something has made all of you feel betrayed and broken, and to have someone like me come here and declare something else is happening feels like it's coming back. I understand that. But that doesn't mean we can't catch them and force them to talk, or take them out, if that be the case. I need you all to come by me so that I can show you—all of you—what I'm talking about."

"And how are you going to do that?" Neville asked, standing from his lean on the couch arm. The Headmistress also made her way over, a little wary of me. Neville seemed much more put together about this than the other two. The dreams he'd been in with us must have finally sunk in.

I took a deep breath. "I have a unique ability among my people; if you will all hold hands, I'm going to show you my memories so that you can see who we've encountered." Neville grasped Harry's hand, who took the Headmistress' in his other hand. Neville smirked at me. The other two had closed their eyes. "Close your eyes, please." Neville's eyes fluttered close, that smile still on his face. I touched his face, and the smile widened. What was wrong with him? I closed my eyes, and tried to concentrate on the memories of Sontarans I had. Scenes from the last Time War played, the Sontarans fighting and beating my fellow Time Lords back. Next, earlier scenes from other encounters we'd had came up, dredging up bile to my throat. Some of it was sickening. I had to push it back down, and suddenly a scene between me and Hazander floated in. His face lingered for a second before I cut off the connection and released them from the barrage of my memories. The Sontarans from my memories were nearly identical to the garden gnomes, the height being the only major difference.

When I told them they could open their eyes again, Harry and the Headmistress had stunned expressions. Neville gave me a strange look. "Who was that fellow at the end?" He'd seen him. They'd seen him. I set my jaw.

"No one. He's no one."

"He's got to be someone to you, or he wouldn't have come up. Who was he?" Neville asked, all the more curious.

"Leave it alone, Neville; I'm not comfortable talking about it." Aryn and Kaal looked concerned, but said nothing. Neville wisely left the subject alone. Harry and the Headmistress were still trying to come to grips with what I'd shown them.

"So the garden gnomes are aliens from another planet," Harry said slowly, trying to comprehend the statement. The Headmistress' hands shook, and she tried to still them without anyone noticing. I walked over to her and took her hands. She looked up at me with a tired, weary look.

"I don't have the strength to go through something like this again, my dear Miss Smith. I really don't. Our last battle with—Voldemort—was enough for me." She forced a smile on her face, patted my hands, got up and went back to her desk. Harry stood up.

"Well, we can do something about it; Minerva, I'm going to need Neville back, as well as some of your better students. Can you spare them?" She nodded her head, turning to the portraits on her wall. I never noticed until now, but they were moving. I was slightly confused as I knew about holograms, but this was something different. Then I remembered that I was in a school of magic, and things made sense. Kind of. While Harry and Neville were discussing strategies and tactics, I went over to Aryn and Kaal.

"Aryn, thank you for helping me out. I let him get the better of me and my emotions, and you really came through for me. I appreciate it." I had said it; I actually thanked someone instead of shooting back a retort. Aryn and Kaal looked surprised. I guess they never thought I'd do it either.

"You're welcome, Chancellor. Like I told you, I have had some training in regards to this sort of thing before. I also wanted to thank you for telling them that we're your friends. I know you don't really see us that way, but it was nice to hear you say it." So that's why they had smiled when I glanced over. Friends. I never really had many; it usually never went well, but I suppose they were.

"It might come out more often, but we'll see how that goes." My mind was now fully working on the Sontaran solution, trying to figure out a way to target the lot of them and safely get them off earth and back to Sontar. The TARDIS might be able to help us in that regard. "We've got to get back to the TARDIS. We should be able to locate all the Sontarans using the scanner, and might be able to figure out the best way of dealing with them. "

"But what about the wizards? Don't they need our help?" Kaal asked, pointing at Harry and Neville. Some students had come in, and Harry and Neville were in deep discussion with the group, informing them about the situation at hand, and how they were going to need them in order to secure the school.

"I'm planning on guiding the TARDIS back here; it's a pretty sturdy one, and definitely better than nothing at all. Now if I had a battle TARDIS, we'd be set, but that's a wholly different matter." I turned on my heel and we headed for the door.

"Where are you all going?" Neville boomed, his voice louder than normal.

"I'm getting my ship!" I snapped. He was still irritating me. "We'll be back in a bit." Neville frowned slightly, but went back to his discussion. I rolled my eyes. Man, he got on my nerves. First that dumb smile, then asking me about Hazander, then this. When was it going to end? Why was he acting so strange? I brushed it off, but it still sat at the back of my mind. I could hear a snigger behind me as we left the Headmistress' office. "What is it?" I posed, still making my way to the entrance of the school.

"I think he likes you." My face must have shown my disbelief. "Haven't you noticed his smile and the way he flirts with you?" I snorted.

"Yeah, he flirts with me all right. He's interested in me because I'm an alien, not in me personally."

"Oh, I think he's pretty interested in you, Chancellor. Especially after what we all went through with those Daleks and the Master. Jay'la mentioned how you took on the leader of the pirates. I have to say, quite impressive from what she described. You didn't have to, yet you chose to put yourself in her path. That's some courage you got there, Chancellor." I shrugged. I didn't want to think about it; I could still see that crazy woman's mad gaze and hear her growl. I rubbed my right ear, part of where my hair got ripped out.

"I'd rather not talk about it; I'm the one who let them in. They would have never gotten a hold of what they did, or passed on that disease, if I hadn't decided to try and save Maz. My feelings got in the way of the mission."

"We caught them; after everything that happened, we caught them and they're serving their time for everything they've done. You can at least be happy about that, right?"

"I guess." We walked in silence until the doors loomed above us. I pushed it open and we headed to the woods. I took out my sonic and activated it. The TARDIS was synced with my sonic so I could find it once it was camouflaged. Once I could hear a rapid beeping, we went in pursuit of the TARDIS, eventually coming upon it. It still looked like a broken tree trunk. I grinned. I was so glad to see him again. I pressed my sonic to the plate in the back, and the door opened. "Oh yes!" I let out, my happiness shining through.

"You are really attached to this thing, aren't you?" I beamed at Kaal.

"Yep. Now we can really get to work on ridding ourselves of the Sontarans."


End file.
